Chapter 52: Chapter 50 Goodbyes

The intense pain felt like a savior as it dragged her out of her nightmares, all the more vivid after reading her father’s journals.

She tried to move, but she felt disconnected to her body, and the pain soared in intensity from her efforts. Still, the small movement caught the attention of the one watching her.

“Right on time… I guess I gotta acknowledge that old bat’s skills.” Raul muttered.

She tried to turn her head to him, but even that movement was too difficult for her. Even just opening her eyes was agonizing.

“Quit moving. Well, trying to anyway. I got your medicine right here.” He took a spoon and bottle out of his ring. “Here, can you open your lips?” He hovered the spoon above her.

It took some effort, but she managed to unclench her jaw.

“There’s a good girl.” He smiled fawningly while gentle upturning the spoon’s contents into her mouth.

“This medicine is pretty good, it dissolves on its own when mixed with saliva so you don’t have to worry about swallowing. Make sure you thank Tai the next time you see him.” Raul commented while the medicine did its work.

His tone irritated her, but she noted the favor regardless.

“The hag said you need to stay in bed for today. I have a soup for you to drink as well, but it’s probably best to wait until the suppressant kicks in first.” The soup didn’t have the same property as the medicine.

Marina tried to nod but failed. It didn’t matter though as Raul seemed content to sit silently beside her.

She closed her eyes and started assessing her state. Her qi channels and meridians were unharmed, but her body was a wreck.

‘Worse than predicted… It’d take three months with decent resources.’ She assessed calmly. Ordinarily this would destroy any chance of passing the entrance exam, but she never planned to heal the normal way.

‘I’ll be mobile in a week, at that time we should be in the city, and he’ll be there as well. It won’t be a problem to get the things.’ She reasoned.

It was better if she could use her own channels to acquire those materials. If worst came to worst, she’d find a way to get Ephemeral Mask to do it. He was an ambitious one, it wouldn’t be hard.

Some time passed before Raul leaned over her again. “It should be good now. Do you want to eat or are you asleep?” His soft voice asked above her.

She opened her eyes, finding it much easier this time. The strange feeling of disconnect was still there, but the pain considerably lessoned.

Taking that as an answer, Raul started feeding her the soup. He’d constantly compliment her or goad her as if he was talking to a stubborn child, making her wish she could pull off her usual glare.

‘So bland. What a lazy cook.’ Marina turned her frustrations towards the cooking. It was very nutritious as far as grade one meals go, but absolutely no thought went into the flavor. A switch of three or four ingredients would’ve kept the same price and nutritional value while greatly improving the taste. She could only give poor reviews.

Despite her annoyance and disdain, she finished it all. Her body relaxed a bit as the Nourishing Qi did its job.

“Is there anything else you want me to do, or should I leave you alone for a bit? Blink once for need me and twice for no.”

She blinked twice. She didn’t need anything else right now, it’d be best to focus on speeding up her recovery.

“Got it. Blink when I reach the number of hours you want to be alone.” He held out his hand and started counting down fingers. Marina blinked when he reached five.

“I’ll be back in five hours then, be a good girl until then.” Raul pretended to ruffle her hair as he talked, causing another spike of irritation. She’d be even more irritated if she knew he intentionally riled her up.

Raul understood he needed to take care of her right now, but he couldn’t help being angry. He’d been right next door and she never called for his help until almost too late. Despite supposedly placing her faith in him, she didn’t trust him at all. It frustrated him to no end.

Marina heard the door shut and assumed he’d left. She closed her eyes and started circulating her qi to increase her healing. The recovery increase of a Refining Realm without a single meridian materialized was pitifully small, even worse than sleeping, but she’d only resort to sleeping if absolutely necessary.

The days went by like this. Raul taking care of her until she wanted to be left alone, and then heading to town to handle his own matters. Though the constant up and down was annoying, he had a lot of friends that he wished to say goodbye to and could only suck it up.

Ellen also dropped in a few times, freeing Raul up a bit more. One time she brought a lot of well wishes from the guards who’d trained with Raul.

Word got around that Marina was hurt and caused great distress. Even those who didn’t receive personal guidance from her were thankful for the opportunity they’d received and wished her well.

Soon, the remaining three days passed.

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“Good to go?” Raul asked after double checking Marina’s wheelchair. She blinked in affirmation, and he moved behind her right afterwards. “This is it then, let’s go.” He guided her away from the workshop.

He walked at a leisurely pace, careful to not jostle her in anyway. They were leaving quite early, so there was no hurry. It also gave him an excuse to look around the compound for what would likely be the last time in a long time.

Of course, he’d already visited all the areas that held deep meaning to him over the three days, he even stopped by the cabin they held his smelting trial in. Well, almost all the areas.

His gaze pulled in another direction for a moment, one further up the mountain. A strong impulse to go once again passed through him before he pressed it down. He could, if he really wished to, but he’d promised himself to only go back there when he became a Family elder at the least.

“Hey you two.” A strong voice called out to them, bringing Raul out of his thoughts. His eyes brightened up as he spotted Matthew approaching.

“Hey man, didn’t expect to see you here.” Raul waved happily. He knew Matthew didn’t intend to enroll this year. He didn’t have the confidence to deal with the enlistment required for Refining Realms. It was the rational choice, especially considering he was only twenty-four and had another enrollment chance. There was simply no reason to risk it.

“Well, I figured I’d come say goodbye.” He rubbed the back of his head bashfully. He then turned worried eyes to Marina.  “Afternoon Marina. Everyone was really distraught when they heard about your accident. We’re all hoping you get well soon.”

“She says thank you for the well wishes and gifts you guys sent. She really enjoyed them, and even teared up when Ellen delivered them.” Raul responded for her.

Though there were a few things wrong with those words, Marina didn’t comment. She’d recovered enough to speak, but it was painful, and Raul’s words were close enough to her own sentiments that it wasn’t worth the effort.

“If that’s true then I’m happy.” Matthew tried to smile, but he couldn’t quite pull it off. He owed a lot to Marina. He wouldn’t be certain he could reach the Spirit Ascension Realm before the next exam If not for her modifications and guidance. It pained him to see her in this condition.

The two chatted while heading to the launching site. Even at Raul’s careful pace, they were among the first to arrive.

“It’s hard to believe that you guys are leaving already. For some reason I thought we’d end up going in the same batch.” Matthew couldn’t help saying while staring at the giant field.

“Hey, it’s not too late you know.” Raul’s eyes perked up.

“Groan, I already said no man.” Matthew immediately regretted bringing the topic up.

“I just don’t think you’ve fully thought about this. You might just be a servant, but you’d still be at the Academy. It’d be the perfect place to prepare for your enrollment.” Raul launched his sales pitch for the eight time in three days.

Though Marina already chose their servant, he felt that she wouldn’t complain if he swapped him with Matthew, even if it would upset the previous choice’s backing.

It didn’t matter though as Matthew looked unimpressed with the life changing offer. Raul didn’t give up like before though. This was his last chance to drag Matthew with him so he could bea– cough, help, his friend, so he brought out the heavy artillery.

“Dude, you understand that Claudia is going right?”

“Of course, how could I not know?” He said proudly despite the blush on his cheeks. Claudia was one of the stronger Spirit Ascension Cultivators of the family and had a good chance of passing. They spent a long night discussing the future of their relationship.

“Well, I don’t know what you guys planned for, but you should know that long distance basically never works.” Matthew’s proud face immediately fell upon Raul’s words. “I mean, just think about it. You guys will be separated for four years, FOUR years. Even if she doesn’t plan to do anything, picture it. She’ll be meeting all sorts of new people who are just as talented as her, making all sorts of new friends and associates, the nights gets lonely, friends come over, good friends and good drink flowing, everyone leaves but one stays to help clean up, one thing leads to another, a single misstep and–“

“Ahhhhhh!” The big man yelled uncharacteristically loud, drawing all the attention in the small field. Thankfully there still weren’t too many people yet.

“Damn! Are you a demon!?” Matthew cursed after having all the insecurities he didn’t even know he had dragged up. Even Marina couldn’t help glancing at Raul as if he’d suddenly grown horns.

“You can avoid all that by just being there you big lug. Come on, you might as well come.” Raul goaded.

“I seriously can’t man, there are still thing I have to do here.” He said after a moment of hesitation. Matthew wasn’t like Raul or Tai, his parents were mortal. If he did well in the Academy then he may never see them again, and he wasn’t ready for that. His little sister also showed signs of cultivation talent, and he needed to get her started so she wouldn’t have as hard a time as he did. He couldn’t leave at this time no matter what.

“Damn.” Sadness filled Raul as he realized he wouldn’t budge. “Sigh, nothing for it I guess. You better pass the next exam, you owe me a ton of rematches. We’ll both be Ascension Realm at that time.”

“No problem, I’ll happily kick your ass in all realms.” Matthew promised with a grin. The idea of punching Raul was really therapeutic right now.

“I’m gonna miss that cocky attitude, especially since I’m gonna beat it out of you the next time we meet.” Raul replied with his own grin.

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